Tuesday, 25 July 2017

Luck or Hard Work?

There is a common misconception that
someone who looks like me is genetically blessed, lucky, small, has it easy,
doesn’t have to work hard to maintain their shape.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

My mother will assure you that shorties
like us have to continually work hard on our health. I have never seen my
mother become complacent with her own exercise. I cannot recall a time when she has not engaged in some form of physical activity, with reasonable intensity. I grew up watching her play squash, walk greyhounds, attend classes at the gym and more recently, engage in a quality strength training program including deadlifts! She knows that maintaining her
weight takes discipline, not luck – something that she instilled in me from a
young age.

Someone recently said to me – “staying in
shape is easy for you and the other trainers here, you are small.” Many women in the fitness industry cop
the same feedback, and I think it’s important to take a moment to appreciate
the commitment we make to our health. I wasn’t always small. In fact,
maintaining my body weight is a work in progress.

I choose to maintain this body weight
because I choose to be healthy, strong and fit. This is a conscious decision
that I made and one I continually work at. I also want to be a healthy, strong
and fit role model for my own daughter and our community of women at Ritual HQ.

I want to make a point of saying this isn’t
just about wanting to look a certain way. Whilst I do want to maintain a
certain physique, the priority for me is my health. I want to continue to
increase my strength, increase my lean muscle mass and decrease (or at least
maintain) my body fat. Why…? Because I enjoy the way I feel when I look the way
I do now; I like feeling strong and I enjoy the energy it gives me every day.

Being really disciplined with my food and
exercise is substantially beneficial to my health. I rarely get sick, I can’t
remember the last time I had any kind of cold or flu, I have knocked insomnia
on the head and sleep far better than I used to. Not only does it help regulate
my stress levels, but also helps me balance a massive day-to-day workload with
the pressures of being a single mum (with minimal ‘mummy blow outs’). I
attribute this directly to my health and fitness, and to the confidence I have
gained in the way I carry myself.

Image on the right. My skin is flushed and puffy due todaily alcohol intake and I was significantly heavierI was also extremely unhappy.Image on the left, ten years and two kids later.

There was a time when I was 20kg heavier
than I currently am. I was lethargic, depressed, unhappy, unhealthy, I
regularly got sick and had terrible sleep patterns. Needless to say my body, my
health and my mind were vastly different with an extra 20kg to carry around
each day!

Please understand that to make the decision
to look the way I do and, more importantly, feel the way I do, is far from
easy. I work my goddam arse off to maintain this body and this level of health,
but you know what…I am worth it. And so are you. Trust me, it’s worth the
effort.

And all of our trainers at Ritual HQ are
the same. The misconception that we are ‘lucky’ dilutes the fact that we work
hard to take care of ourselves – it understates the commitment and discipline
we apply to our training and nutrition EVERY DAY.

Take one of our trainers, Libbie Rogers,
for example:

“I’ve been fortunate enough to work in the
fitness industry for nearly 7 years, but it wasn’t until the last 12-18 months
that I really felt like I had a handle on my training and nutrition (and boy,
has it been a journey!). Despite always having looked ‘skinny’ or ‘small’, I
was FAR from healthy or happy with how I looked and felt.

“Seven months ago I started seeing a
nutritionist – regularly. After cleaning up my food and setting up some
personal goals, I reached a point where it became impossible for me to shift my
body fat any further, no matter how hard I trained or how clean my diet was.
Nothing about this process was easy, or lucky. To be frank, it was hard and sometimes
disheartening.

“Fast forward a few months and some food intolerance
testing later, I was told I had leaky gut syndrome. This meant cutting a large
number of foods from my diet while I undertook the necessary steps to heal my
gut (something that is still ongoing for me). Again, definitely not an easy
task, but I’m persisting! Why? Because my health is important to me. My body is
worth looking after and I want to lead by example for my clients.

“My body shape naturally falls into the
‘ectomorph’ category, which also means it is difficult for me to put on lean
muscle mass. I have to work hard at this! To be honest – maintaining where I am
takes two things – hard work and consistency. I also lead a relatively busy
lifestyle, so prioritising my health and my training means having my meals
prepped and getting my training in early. Luck definitely doesn’t get me out of
bed at 4am, and it certainly isn’t easy when it’s dark and freezing cold! But
when did something worth having ever come easily?”

Libbie - Ritual HQ Coach

That’s exactly right. I invest in my
nutrition much like my training. I meal prep every single meal. I strategically
plan out every day to ensure my energy levels are maintained and my body is
fuelled. I invest in help when I need it. I have the help of a naturopath to
help with my hormonal imbalances and I even apply these meal prep strategies to
holidays and time away.I rarely get
caught out. I schedule all of my training and I treat it like a very important appointment.
My mental and physical health depends on it. I respect this time and I value my
body and its need to move, lift, breath properly and sleep.

We all joke about it, but perhapsit's time we question our reliance onwine to 'cope' as mothers?

There was a time when I needed alcohol to
relax after a busy day. I get it, I’ve been there. I thought I couldn’t live
without it. But then my goal to have a healthy body and mind, and to sleep
better became bigger and I worked incredibly hard to reduce my reliance on
alcohol. Then it became more about reducing the inflammation in my body. I
noticed a direct correlation between alcohol consumption and pain in my body,
not to mention the cellulite on my thighs, belly and arse.

I rarely drink soft drink, I rarely eat
chocolate (and if I do, it’s a really good quality organic chocolate in VERY
small doses), I can’t remember the last time I ate a packet of chips and I
never touch Maccas or any other shitty fast food takeaway. This is a choice I
make because this stuff makes me feel like crap. Why would I intentionally put
something into my body that makes me feel like crap on a regular basis? And no,
I don’t feel like I am missing out.

All of this being said, this doesn’t mean I
don’t enjoy my life. I am happier now than I have ever been. My favourite food is a bloody big burger from a good quality burger joint. But this is a
rare treat. I love date night when I get to indulge in a beautiful red wine and
a yummy meal. But I know my limits and it’s pretty rare when I will go beyond
these limits. And when I do, it’s a stark reminder of how much it doesn’t agree
with my body. I really enjoy these treats because I indulge in them rarely and
I go for quality over quantity.

Drop the sense of entitlement over food and alcohol and realise that it takes HARD work, commitment and consistency and you too can have the 'lucky body'.

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